Czechs oust Team USA in hockey in shootout at Winter Olympics; 'that close to moving on'

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GANGNEUNG, South Korea — It was if the U.S. men’s hockey players and coaches didn’t know how to react to their 3-2 shootout loss to the Czechs in the Olympic quarterfinals.

They were clearly disappointed to be eliminated from the competition, and yet there was pride in how they played overall and a feeling that they did all they could against the unbeaten Czechs.

“We played five games and we lost one game in regulation,” U.S. coach Tony Granato said. “That was some pretty good hockey we played.”

Four years ago, when the Olympics was an NHL tournament, the Americans won an important Olympic game 3-2 against the Russians with T.J. Oshie scoring four shootout goals. This time the Americans lost a shootout thanks to Czech goalie Pavel Francouz’s brilliance.

After U.S. forward Jim Slater scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game at 10:23 of the second period, the Americans and Czechs played a scoreless tug-of-war the rest of the way.

The Americans came close to going ahead with less than three minutes left in regulation when Brian O’Neill rang a shot off the crossbar. They received another opportunity when Czech Vojtech Mozik was whistled for slashing with 1:20. But the Americans couldn’t cash in against Francouz.

“The goalie made some saves, but we didn’t stop coming,” U.S. forward Troy Terry said. “That was kind of a theme for the tournament.

In the shootout, U.S. goalie Ryan Zapolski stopped four of five shootouts, giving up a lone goal to Petr Koukal, a 35-year-old veteran who has never scored 20 goals in his European career.

The Americans used Chris Bourque, Mark Arcobello, Ryan Donato, Terry, and Bobby Butler, and none could find the net against Francouz in the shootout.

“It probably would have been worse if we lost in overtime,” Zapolski said. “A shootout can go either way.”

With the NHLers not here, there was no Oshie this time.

Terry, who won a World Junior gold medal for USA with shootout heroics, said the Americans were thrown off because Francouz wears his catching glove on his right-hand. Most goalies wear it on their left hand.

“Their goalie is really quick,” said Terry, a Anaheim Ducks’ prospect. “(I) tried to fake a shot and get him moving, and then pull it back. But he made a big play.”

Terry said the lack of goals in the shootout was frustrating because Zapolski had some big saves in the game. Usually if a goalie stops four of five in the shootout, he has an excellent chance of winning.

“We definitely gave everything we had,” U.S. forward Brian Gionta said. “We were that close to moving on.”

Because USA won’t play for a medal, the roster selection will be second-guessed.

When the team was announced, one criticism was that there were not enough college players.

As it turned out, college players Terry and Donato were USA’s best offensive players. Boston University’s Jordan Greenway was a presence, difficult to play against.

Maybe another college scorer or two could have helped the offense, but int he USA’s last two games it was clear why the late U.S. general manager Jim Johannson wanted a few college players sprinkled in with a veteran group. He wanted college players for points and veterans for the poise.

It was the European leaguers, particularly O’Neill, Bobby Sanguinetti, Chad Billins — plus American Leaguer Chris Bourque — keeping the Americans in games.

“We played well enough to keep going, but we are not,” Granato said.

Granato said the only thing he shootout was whether he should have used Brian Gionta, 39, because of his experience.

“We had 25 players, a team that was built to represent our country the way it was represented. Play hard. Compete. Leave it on the ice. We did that,” Granato said. “We have a lot to be proud of. Did we like that it went to a shootout and we didn’t move on? No. But those are the rules. As we watched the clock wind down in the overtime period, it’s hard to believe that the way the game was played, and how hard the teams were competing, it was going to that.”